1 Kings 3
1 And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the LORD, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.
Solomon went to see the king of Egypt. Solomon [made an agreement with him to] marry his daughter. They also made an alliance/agreement [that their armies would not attack each other]. Then Solomon brought the king’s daughter to live in [the part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’. [She lived there] until Solomon’s workers had finished building his house and the temple of Yahweh and the wall around Jerusalem.
2 Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the LORD, until those days.
[At that time] the temple of Yahweh had not yet been built, so the Israeli people were still offering sacrifices at many other places of worship.
3 And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.
Solomon loved Yahweh, and he obeyed all the instructions that his father David had given him. But he also offered sacrifices and burned incense at various altars.
4 And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that [was] the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.
One day the king went to Gibeon [city] to offer a sacrifice there, because that was where the most famous/important altar was. In previous years he had offered hundreds of sacrifices on that altar.
5 In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
That night, Yahweh appeared to him in a dream. He asked Solomon, “What would you like me to give to you?”
6 And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as [it is] this day.
Solomon replied, “You always greatly and faithfully loved my father David, who served you [well]. You did that because he (was faithful to/faithfully obeyed) you and acted righteously and honestly toward you. And you have showed how greatly and faithfully you loved him by giving to him me, his son, and now I am ruling [MTY] as he did [before he died].
7 And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I [am but] a little child: I know not [how] to go out or come in.
“Now, Yahweh my God, you have appointed me to be the king like my father was. But I am [very young, like] a little child [MET]. I do not know how to lead/rule my people at all [IDM].
8 And thy servant [is] in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.
I am here among the people whom you have chosen. They are a very large group of people; there are very, very many of them, with the result that no one can count them [DOU].
9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
So please enable me to think clearly, in order that I may rule your people [well]. Enable me to know what is good and what is evil. [If you do not do that, ] I will never [RHQ] be able to rule this great group of people who belong to you.”
10 And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
Yahweh was very pleased that Solomon had requested that.
11 And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;
God said to him, “You did not request that you live for many years or that you become very rich or that you be able to kill all your enemies. Instead, you have requested that I enable you to be wise, in order that you will be able to know [and to do] what is right [while you govern these people].
12 Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
So, I will certainly do what you requested. I will enable you to be very wise [DOU]. The result will be that no one who has lived before you or who will live after you will be as [wise as] you are.
13 And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.
I will also give you things that you did not request: I will enable you to become very rich and honored, as long as you live. You will be richer and more honored than any other king.
14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.
If you conduct your life [IDM] as I want you to, and if you obey all my laws and commandments, as your father David did, I will enable you to live for many years.”
15 And Solomon awoke; and, behold, [it was] a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.
Then Solomon awoke, and he realized that [God had spoken to him in] a dream. Then he went to Jerusalem and stood in front of [the Sacred Tent where] the Sacred Chest [was], and he offered many sacrifices that were completely burned [on the altar] and offerings to maintain fellowship with Yahweh. Then he made a feast for all his officials.
16 Then came there two women, [that were] harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.
One day two prostitutes came and stood in front of King Solomon.
17 And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.
One of them said, “Your Majesty, this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a baby while she was there in the house.
18 And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we [were] together; [there was] no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.
Three days after my baby was born, this woman also gave birth to a baby. Only the two of us were in the house; there was no one else there.
19 And this woman’s child died in the night; because she overlaid it.
“But one night this woman’s baby died because she [accidentally] rolled on top of her baby [while sleeping and smothered it].
20 And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.
So she got up at midnight and took my baby boy who was lying beside me while I was sleeping. She carried him to her bed and brought her dead baby and put it in my bed.
21 And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear.
When I awoke the next morning and was ready to nurse my baby, I saw that it was dead. But when I looked at it closely in the morning light, I saw that it was not my baby!”
22 And the other woman said, Nay; but the living [is] my son, and the dead [is] thy son. And this said, No; but the dead [is] thy son, and the living [is] my son. Thus they spake before the king.
But the other woman said, “That is not true! The baby that is alive is mine, and the baby that is dead is yours!” Then the first woman said, “No, the dead baby is yours, and the one that is alive is mine!” And they continued to argue in front of the king.
23 Then said the king, The one saith, This [is] my son that liveth, and thy son [is] the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son [is] the dead, and my son [is] the living.
Then the king said, “Both of you are saying, ‘My baby is the one that is alive and the one that is dead is yours.’”
24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.
So he said to one of his servants, “Bring me a sword.” So the servant brought a sword to the king.
25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.
Then the king said to the servant, “Cut the baby that is alive into two parts. Give one part to each of the women.”
26 Then spake the woman whose the living child [was] unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, [but] divide [it].
But the woman whose baby was alive loved her baby very much, so she said to the king, “No, Your Majesty! Do not allow him to kill the baby! Give her the child that is alive!” But the other woman said to the king, “No, cut it in half. Then it will not be her baby or my baby.”
27 Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she [is] the mother thereof.
Then the king said to the servant, “Do not kill the baby. Give the baby to the woman who said ‘Do not cut the baby in half,’ because she is truly the baby’s mother.”
28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God [was] in him, to do judgment.
All the Israeli people heard about what the king had decided, and they revered him. They realized that God had truly enabled him to be very wise, to judge people’s matters fairly.
